Superstitious gesture influenced gameplay

ABSTRACT

Various embodiments disclosed herein are directed to a gesture enhanced game play system that includes a display system, a sensor system, a feedback system, and one or more computing systems. The sensor system is configured to detect at least one touch gesture when the touch gesture is at least proximate the virtual game layout. During play of the base game, when a player makes a touch gesture the touch gesture is evaluated as either a direct gameplay touch gesture or an indirect gameplay touch gesture. Each direct gameplay touch gesture relates directly to reaching an outcome of a current game. Each indirect gameplay touch gesture may be associated with a feedback system that responds to the indirect gameplay touch gestures by the player with visual, audio, and/or tactile feedback. The feedback system enables indirect gameplay touch gestures by the player to altered game parameters by modifying a hit frequency and corresponding prize pay range, enabling the player to indirectly modify the hit frequency and prize pay range by making indirect gameplay touch gestures. The sensor system is configured to detect multiple touch gestures, wherein gestures include simultaneous touches by multiple fingers, consecutive touches by a single finger, touching and sliding of a finger, touching and sliding of multiple fingers, and combinations thereof.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 12/619,635, entitled “Gesture Enhanced Input Device,” filedNov. 16, 2009, which is incorporated herein by reference in itsentirety. This application is also related to U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 11/938,203, entitled “Game Related Systems, Methods, AndArticles That Combine Virtual And Physical Elements,” filed Nov. 9,2007, and U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/985,178 filed Nov. 2,2007, the content of both of which are incorporated herein by referencein their entirety.

COPYRIGHT NOTICE

A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains materialthat is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has noobjection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent documentor the patent disclosure, as it appears in the Patent and TrademarkOffice patent files or records, but otherwise reserves all copyrightrights whatsoever.

FIELD

This disclosure is directed to wagering games, gaming machines,networked gaming systems and methods and, more particularly, to wageringgames, gaming machines, networked gaming systems and methods having asuperstitious influenced gameplay.

BACKGROUND

There are numerous types of games that people play for entertainment oreducational purposes. Some games are classified as board games. Suchgames typically include a game layout which is defined or formed by aset of demarcations on a board. Typically, players advance game-relatedpieces such as tokens, tiles or markers along various paths on the gamelayout to obtain some goal. The goal may, for example, include being thefirst player to reach a destination, collecting cards, points or pretendcurrency, or collecting other game-related pieces such as tokens, tiles,houses, wedges, and the like. Examples of board games include chess,checkers, Monopoly, Scrabble, Trivial Pursuit, Battle Ship, Risk, Life,Candyland, Chutes And Ladders, and Go Fish.

Some games are commonly associated with wagering. For example, roulette,craps, and many card games played with playing cards, for instanceblackjack, baccarat, various types of poker, Pai Gow poker, and Let ItRide. Sometimes games commonly associated with wagering are played forfun, without the exchange of money and/or for charitable fund raiserswhich typically involves pretend money. Card games may be played withone or more standard decks of playing cards. A standard deck of playingcards typically comprises fifty-two playing cards, each playing cardhaving a combination of a rank symbol and a suit symbol, selected fromthirteen rank symbols (i.e., 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, J, Q, K, and A)and four suit symbols (i.e., diamond-solid, and the like). Some gamesmay include non-standard playing cards, for example, playing cards withsymbols other than the rank and suit symbols associated with a standarddeck.

Gaming tables have traditionally consisted of a wood structure with aprinted felt and an arm pad. There are numerous games played atconventional gaming tables. For example, roulette, craps, and card gamesare played with playing cards. Table games have long been played on atraditional green felt table, with one or more players sitting at oneside of the table and the dealer at the other side of the table standingin the casino pit area. A dealer or an electronic shuffler shuffles thedecks of playing cards, which are dealt to the players one-by-one from acard deck shoe or from a hand-held deck. Players place bets or wagers onthe table, typically prior to the playing cards being dealt. At theconclusion of the game, the dealer judges the hands of the variousplayers, including in some games, the dealers own hand. If a player hasa winning hand, the dealer pays the player based upon the size of thewager initially bet and any additional wagers made during game. Losingplayers have their wagers collected by the dealer. Then, the next roundor hand of the game begins.

Pit bosses monitor the amount of wagering by identified players andmanually reward players with complimentary benefits commonly referred toas “comps” credited to the player account based upon this wager rate.Often the amount of the comp is significantly off because the pit bossis concurrently monitoring several players at several different tablesas well as handling different duties in the pit. This leads to thecasino or player being adversely affected.

The pit boss and surveillance cameras monitor the dealer and players toensure that they are not secretly colluding or are individually actingto defraud the casino. Keen eyes by casino personnel are the only thingthat keeps the games honest and mistakes sometimes happen.

In recent years, electronic systems have been added to table games toaid in the proper “comping” of players. Typically, such systemselectronically detect the size of the bet or wager played by a player.The chips used by players to place bets or wagers may be marked eitheroptically or via wireless interrogation. Chips may be marked with a barcode or some other indicia that is either visible or non-visible to theplayer. Alternatively, chips may carry radio frequency identification(RFID) transponders. Machine-readable symbol readers or RFID readersrecognize the bet or wager by each identified player, and theappropriate comps may be credited to the patron's account based upon thesize of wagers. Also, the players overall value to the casino can becalculated since both wins and losses can be electronically monitored.Table game betting or wager recognition has become a significant focusin the casino industry as a way to properly understand total patronvalue. Each of these technologies has its own fidelity and resolutionissues that need to be improved upon.

To aid in fraud detection, table game manufacturers have added theability to detect the playing cards that are on the playing surface ofthe gaming table. Some systems read or scan the playing card as theplaying cards come out of a card shoe. Others systems know the order orsequence of playing cards in the card shoe. Some systems may randomlybuild a card order or sequence, and then also store the order orsequence associated with the deck. Thus, when the playing cards aredealt from the card shoe, the order or sequence is pre-known by thesystem. Other systems read the playing cards after they are collected atthe end of play or hand, and returned to a discard shoe or removed fromthe gaming table, for example into a holding area. The goal is to knowevery playing card that is dealt to each participant, including thedealer, and to look for new or fake playing cards that have been addedor substituted into the game by the players or dealers. Some systemsmonitor all of the metrics of the games so dealer performance can bemonitored. Reports may be run to see which dealers are paying out overthe typical rate or paying out too much to specific players.

If the playing cards in play are known to the system, then various bonusgames or awards, are electronically provided when certain triggeringevents occur. For example, a certain type of full house (e.g., three ofa kind combined with a pair) could trigger a progressive bonus award tothe player or everyone at the same gaming table as the player plays atthat time. This automatic award is clearly an improvement over themanual approaches used to award players after the playing cards areshown to the dealer and the pit boss. An improved bonus game or bonuscard experience that can occur in the middle of a game would be of valueto players and the casino. Video card games like video poker have donethis effectively over the years, and the same type of experience needsto be brought to table games.

New table games are often introduced to casino patrons. However, thesegames require that players are trained on the rules, or the game's riskfailure. This training takes time and typically slows up wagering andhurts the casino bottom line. Some players will often avoid new tablegames altogether because of the associated learning curve. Animprovement to the learning cycle is highly desirable.

Virtual or video-based table games could solve many of theaforementioned issues, but they have had limited success to this date.These games suffer, because the players are accustomed to the physicalplaying cards and chips. It is difficult for a player of traditionaltable games to give up the tactile feel of playing cards and chips intheir hands. There is something special about holding the playing cardsand lifting up the corner of a playing card to peek at the markingswhich makes the table game experience unique. Players enjoy seeing theirplaying cards come out of the card shoe and slide across the table. Thepace and tease of the unknown playing cards is motivating, and almost acompelling factor for most players. A table game product that allowsboth the new virtual (video) and traditional physical cards and chipswould give the player the best of both worlds. Also, it is desirable toimprove the casino experience and operation.

Casinos and other gaming establishments are continually looking for waysto make gaming fresher and more exciting for their patrons. For example,many casinos offer the ability to place bonus wagers and/or progressivewagers. New approaches to varying existing gaming and servicing patronsare highly desirable.

The current physical button offerings, as well as the OLED button panel,requires specialized, set-up configurations to support the types ofbet/line configurations, offered to our customers.

SUMMARY

Briefly, and in general terms, various embodiments disclosed herein aredirected to a gesture-enhanced game play system that includes a displaysystem, a sensor system, a feedback system, and one or more computingsystems. The display system is configured to display images related toone or more games to be played on at least a first game playing surface.The images include a virtual game layout including at least one areaassociated with the play of the one or more games. The sensor system isconfigured to detect at least one touch gesture when the touch gestureis at least proximate the virtual game layout.

During play of the base game, when a player makes a touch gesture, thetouch gesture is evaluated as either a direct gameplay touch gesture oran indirect gameplay touch gesture. Each direct gameplay touch gesturerelates directly to reaching an outcome of a current game. Each indirectgameplay touch gesture may be associated with a feedback system thatresponds to the indirect gameplay touch gesture by the player withvisual, audio, and/or tactile feedback. The feedback system enablesindirect gameplay touch gestures by the player to altered gameparameters by modifying a hit frequency and corresponding prize payrange, enabling the player to indirectly modify the hit frequency andprize pay range by making an indirect gameplay touch gesture. The one ormore computing systems are communicatively coupled to the displaysubsystem to control the images displayed by the display system andreceive information indicative of the touch gesture sensed by the sensorsystem. The sensor system is configured to detect multiple touchgestures, wherein gestures include simultaneous touches by multiplefingers, consecutive touches by a single finger, touching and sliding ofa finger, touching and sliding of multiple fingers, and combinationsthereof.

Another embodiment disclosed herein is also directed to a gestureenhanced game play system that includes a display system, a sensorsystem, a feedback system, and one or more computing systems. In thisembodiment, the display system is configured to display images relatedto one or more games to be played on at least a first game playingsurface. The images include a virtual game layout having at least onearea associated with the play of the one or more games. The sensorsystem is configured to detect at least one touch gesture when the touchgesture is at least proximate the virtual game layout. During play ofthe base game, when a player makes a touch gesture, the touch gesture isevaluated as either a direct gameplay touch gesture or an indirectgameplay touch gesture. Each direct gameplay touch gesture relatesdirectly to reaching an outcome of a current game. Each indirectgameplay touch gesture may be associated with a feedback system thatresponds to the indirect gameplay touch gesture from the player byaltering the speed of the current game. The computing system iscommunicatively coupled to the display system to control the imagesdisplayed by the display system and receive information indicative ofthe touch gesture sensed by the sensor system. The sensor system isconfigured to detect multiple touch gestures, wherein gestures includesimultaneous touches by multiple fingers, consecutive touches by asingle finger, touching and sliding of a finger, touching and sliding ofmultiple fingers, and combinations thereof.

Yet another embodiment disclosed herein is also directed to agesture-enhanced game play system that includes a display system, asensor system, a feedback system, and one or more computing systems. Inthis embodiment, the display system configured to display images isrelated to one or more games to be played on at least a first gameplaying surface. The images include a virtual game layout including atleast one area associated with the play of the one or more games. Thesensor system is configured to detect at least one touch gesture whenthe touch gesture is at least proximate the virtual game layout.

During play of the base game, when a player makes a touch gesture, thetouch gesture is evaluated as either a direct gameplay touch gesture oran indirect gameplay touch gesture. Each direct gameplay touch gesturerelates directly to reaching an outcome of a current game. Each indirectgameplay touch gesture may be associated with a feedback system thatresponds to the indirect gameplay touch gestures by the player withvisual, audio, or tactile feedback. The computing system iscommunicatively coupled to the display system to control the imagesdisplayed by the display system and receives information indicative ofthe touch gesture sensed by the sensor system. The sensor system isconfigured to detect multiple touch gestures, wherein gestures includesimultaneous touches by multiple fingers, consecutive touches by asingle finger, touching and sliding of a finger, touching and sliding ofmultiple fingers, and combinations thereof.

Other features and advantages will become apparent from the followingdetailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawings, which illustrate by way of example, the features of thevarious embodiments.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

FIG. 1 illustrates a logical flow diagram of a process for gesturelogging of a player's superstitious touch gesturing behavior.

FIG. 2 illustrates a logical flow diagram of a process for distortion ofgame output in reaction to a player's superstitious touch-gesturingbehavior.

FIG. 3 illustrates a ripple distortion in reaction to a touch event froma player's superstitious touch-gesturing behavior, shown on a gamedisplay screen.

FIG. 4 illustrates a ripple distortion in reaction to a touch event froma player's superstitious touch-gesturing behavior, shown in a2-dimensional, wire-frame representation.

FIG. 5 illustrates a ripple distortion in reaction to a touch event froma player's superstitious touch-gesturing behavior, shown in a3-dimensional, wire-frame representation.

FIG. 6 illustrates a ripple distortion in reaction to a touch event froma player's superstitious touch-gesturing behavior, shown on a gamedisplay screen in a 3-dimensional representation.

FIG. 7 illustrates a player modification of a display in reaction to atouch event from a player's superstitious touch-gesturing behavior thatinvolves the placing of lucky elements.

FIG. 8 illustrates a player modification of a display in reaction to atouch event from a player's superstitious touch-gesturing behavior thatinvolves coloring symbols.

FIG. 9 illustrates a player modification of a display in reaction to atouch event from a player's superstitious touch-gesturing behavior thatinvolves highlighting of the “luckiest” symbol positions.

FIG. 10 illustrates a superstitious touch-gesturing system with a hapticenhanced win.

FIG. 11 illustrates a superstitious touch-gesturing system with a hapticenhanced free spin trigger.

FIG. 12 illustrates a superstitious touch-gesturing system with avirtual button desk reel control process.

FIG. 13 illustrates a superstitious touch-gesturing system withaccumulation of gesture data.

FIG. 14 illustrates a superstitious touch-gesturing system with anacoustic input gesture enabled cabinet.

FIG. 15 illustrates a superstitious touch-gesturing system with anacoustic input sensor attached to the inside of the cabinet.

FIG. 16 illustrates an example of acoustic data taken from asuperstitious touch-gesturing system.

FIG. 17 illustrates a superstitious touch-gesturing system with avirtual button desk reel control display.

FIG. 18 illustrates a superstitious touch-gesturing system withgesture-based win anticipation.

FIG. 19 illustrates a superstitious touch-gesturing system displaying aminor response to a superstitious gesture.

FIG. 20 illustrates a superstitious touch-gesturing system displaying amajor response to a superstitious gesture.

FIG. 21 illustrates a superstitious touch-gesturing system with a bonusawarded to a superstitious gesture.

FIG. 22 illustrates a superstitious touch-gesturing system with ageneration of a fortune cookie.

FIG. 23 illustrates a superstitious touch-gesturing system with aretrieval of a fortune cookie.

FIG. 24 illustrates a superstitious touch-gesturing system withresponsible enabling and disabling of superstitious features.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following description, certain specific details are set forth inorder to provide a thorough understanding of various disclosedembodiments. However, one skilled in the relevant art will recognizethat embodiments may be practiced without one or more of these specificdetails, or with other methods, components, materials, and the like. Inother instances, well-known structures associated with servers,networks, displays, media handling and/or printers have not been shownor described in detail to avoid unnecessarily obscuring descriptions ofthe embodiments.

Unless the context requires otherwise, throughout the specification andclaims which follow, the word “comprise” and variations thereof, suchas, “comprises” and “comprising” are to be construed in an open,inclusive sense, that is as “including, but not limited to.”

Reference throughout this specification to “one embodiment” or “anembodiment” means that a particular feature, structure or characteristicdescribed in connection with the embodiment is included in at least oneembodiment. Thus, the appearances of the phrases “in one embodiment” or“in an embodiment” in various places throughout this specification arenot necessarily all referring to the same embodiment. Furthermore, theparticular features, structures, or characteristics may be combined inany suitable manner in one or more embodiments.

As used in this specification and the appended claims, the singularforms “a,” “an,” and “the” include plural referents unless the contentclearly dictates otherwise. It should also be noted that the term “or”is generally employed in its sense including “and/or” unless the contentclearly dictates otherwise.

As used herein the term “physical” refers to tangible elementsassociated with a game. Such elements may take a variety of forms,including but not limited to playing cards, chips, dice, tiles,spinners, tokens or markers, for instance, chess pieces, checker pieces,pieces that represent players, houses in Monopoly, ships in Battleship,wedges in Trivial Pursuit, and the like. As used herein, the term“virtual” refers to a logical construct of an element associated with agame and a visual display of the logical construct, where there is nophysical counterpart to the particular element in use in the game as thegame is being played. For example, a virtual game layout refers to thelogical construct of a layout of a game and the visual display of thegame layout (e.g., demarcations typically found on a board or felt). Asanother example, a virtual playing card refers to the logical constructof a playing card which does not represent a physical playing card dealtor drawn in the game. As another example, a virtual chip refers to thelogical construct of a monetary value which does not represent aphysical chip placed as a wager in the game. As used herein the term,“representation,” or “visual representation” refers to a visual displayof an icon or other graphical element that is representative of aphysical object associated with a game. For example, a visual icon maybe displayed representing a physical playing card, physical chip orphysical dice that are in use in the game.

Referring now to the drawings, wherein like reference numerals denotelike or corresponding parts throughout the drawings and, moreparticularly to FIGS. 1-9, there are shown various embodiments of asystem for data management and collection. In some embodiments, asuperstitious gesture-influenced gaming system 100 provides methods ofactively responding to a player's superstitious behavior. It has beenwidely noted that a substantial number of players interact with gamingmachines in a superstitious manner. On any given visit to a casino, itis possible to see players rubbing the gaming machine monitors, ortouching symbols for good luck. In some embodiments, a superstitiousgesture-influenced gaming system 100, this behavior is encouraged andused to affect the visual, and other appropriate circumstances, oroperational behavior of a gaming machine.

One aspect of the superstitious gesture-influenced gaming system 100utilizes 3-D accelerated graphics hardware. Such 3-D graphics may bebuilt from 3-D elements (such as cubes, spheres and more complexstructures). However, in the superstitious gesture-influenced gamingsystem 100 there is no requirement for a game to be intentionallydesigned for 3-D. Instead, the superstitious gesture-influenced gamingsystem 100 takes a final 2-D output of a game, which is normallyrendered directly to the LCD display, and further modifies the output ina 3-D manner. In this manner, the 2-D output may be generated by either2-D composition or 3-D composition, as both produce a final 2-D outputfor display.

Referring now to FIG. 2, a process for producing a superstitiousgesture-influenced gaming system 100 is shown. Firstly, the softwarekeeps a state of perturbation (P). This is the current state of anyprevious effect that has been applied. As shown in one example in FIGS.3-6, the desired effect causes a ripple 310 to appear, centered on theirtouch, if a player touches the screen. This ripple 310 spreadsoutwardly, dampening and eventually disappearing. This pleasing effectgives the appearance to a player that they are affecting the graphicaloutput. The player may further expect a superstitious correlation to beachieved. For example, players may conclude that a subsequent win wasassociated with the ripple effect.

In one embodiment of the superstitious gesture-influenced gaming system100, if there is no perturbation effect active and there is no activetouch on the touchscreen associated with the game output display, thenthe game graphics are rendered as normal. In another embodiment of thesuperstitious gesture-influenced gaming system 100, if there is anactive touch, then a perturbation effect is applied at the touchposition. In the case of a “ripple” effect, this means applying avelocity in the z-axis at the point of touch to the perturbation state.

Continuing, in still another embodiment of the superstitiousgesture-influenced gaming system 100, if there are any velocitiespresent throughout the perturbation state (either from a current touchor a previous “touch event” resulting in a ripple), then the effect isconsidered to be active. In such an embodiment, the conventional gamegraphics (instead of being rendered to the display buffer) are renderedto an intermediate texture buffer stored in the graphics card videomemory. This may mean decoupling the display buffer from the displayoutput and instead using this display buffer as a texture source forrendering at the next stage. The process of rendering the conventionalgame graphics into this buffer may be performed by the existing graphicssubsystem of the game software.

After the graphics are rendered into a texture in the superstitiousgesture-influenced gaming system 100, they must still be displayed onscreen, albeit, affected by the perturbation state. Initially, a grid ofrectangles is defined, each composed of two triangles. This grid is atessellation of the larger display output (i.e., the grid is completelycovered by non-overlapping triangles), so each rectangle within may bethe same aspect ratio of the LCD display (e.g., 16:9 for a widescreenmonitor), and each rectangle may be thought of as a smaller tile makingup the larger overall display. The granularity of the tessellation ischosen to be as high as possible without compromising “real time”graphics performance. The maximum tessellation is typically the nativeresolution of the LCD display (e.g., 1920×1080 rectangles). In thisscenario, each rectangle represents one pixel on the display output.FIG. 5 displays an example tessellation, rendered as wire-frametriangles.

Once the grid of vertices and triangles is defined, suitable textureco-ordinates are defined. In such an embodiment, each of theseco-ordinates matches the corresponding position in the game outputdisplay with respect to the larger rectangle. Otherwise stated, if agrid of 192 by 108 rectangles was chosen for a display of 1920×1080pixels, each texture co-ordinate would represent the corner of a 10×10pixel tile, allowing the 3-D graphics hardware to render theintermediate texture pixels within the tile from the texture buffer. Atthis point, the tessellated grid of rectangles, if rendered, exactlymatches the original game display output. By applying the perturbationeffect, the output is altered.

In some embodiments of the superstitious gesture-influenced gamingsystem 100, the perturbation effect is achieved by ripple method such asdescribed by the code below. In such an embodiment, the perturbationstate consists of two grids of velocities at the same resolution as thetessellation. When a touch occurs, a velocity is added to the closestmatching point in the grids to the pixel touched (or averaged across thenearest points). Then, the state is updated on every frame of graphicsrefresh by the following algorithm:

for y := 1 to height − 1 for x := 1 to width − 1 new-water[y][x] =((old-water[y−1][x] + old-water[y+1][x] + old-water[y][x-1] +old-water[y][x+1]) / 2) − new-water[y][x]) new-water[y][x] −=new-water[y][x] / 16 end end

In the above algorithm ‘new-water’ and ‘old-water’ are the two grids ofvelocities. After every refresh, the grids are swapped (so new-waterbecomes old-water, and old-water becomes new-water). The effect of thisalgorithm is to cause an initial touch to ripple a velocity throughoutthe grid. This velocity grid is then in-turn applied to thez-co-ordinates of the corresponding vertices of the rectangles in thetessellation grid.

Notably, some embodiments of the superstitious gesture-influenced gamingsystem 100, if a player makes a further touch to the screen, or evenmore importantly, makes a gesture by dragging their finger across thescreen, these touches are fed into the perturbation state while it isstill active. Otherwise stated, the visual effect to the player may beseen in the associated movie file.

Continuing, once all of the rectangles in the tessellation grid arecorrectly modified, each of the triangles that compose the rectanglesare rendered into the 2-D display using conventional 3-D graphicsrendering techniques. An example of the result of a “touch event” isshown in FIG. 3, and a corresponding wire-frame view of this example isshown in FIG. 4. Additionally, FIG. 5 shows the wire-frame from adifferent perspective, to show the effect on the z-coordinates (whichmay not be apparent from FIG. 4). To provide further clarification, FIG.6 shows FIG. 5 as rendered with textures.

Adding a ripple or other effect to the display is only one possibleinteraction that a player could have with a display screen in asuperstitious gesture-influenced gaming system 100. FIG. 7 shows a “potof gold” icon 710 that is active, possibly under player preference, orif a player qualifies by some criteria, such as being an elite member ofthe casino loyalty system. In one embodiment, a player may touch a “potof gold” icon 710 to produce a coin 720, which they can drag and leaveanywhere on the screen (indicated in FIG. 7 by the hand icon 730). Whilea gold coin 720 is shown in this embodiment, any appropriate icon may beused. This technique enables players to believe, for example, that theymay influence a game output in the same way that table players maybelieve that leaving lucky “charms” on top of their stacks of chips isbeneficial to their luck.

FIG. 8 shows another method of employing a superstitiousgesture-influenced gaming system 100 that enables a player to influencea game display in a purely decorative manner. In one such example, aplayer obtains or is given access to an art palette 810, which enablesthe player to select a color, and use it to color areas of the screen820. In one non-limiting example, the player selects the color red (asindicated by the hand icon 830 on the left) and then touches the area ofthe screen 820 which they wish to color over. As can be seen in thisexample, the coloring is semi-transparent and does not prevent theplayer from seeing the underlying symbol graphics. To prevent playersdrawing graffiti, in some embodiments the players may only be able tocolor one area, or only large (e.g., symbol size) areas at a time. Othercoloring alternatives may involve a player that sprinkles “fairy dust”or other lucky elements over a symbol.

In both of the above-described embodiments, the “coloring” or “luckyicons” may only stay active for a short period of time (e.g., for onespin of the game), or they may stay active for longer before graduallyfading away. This encourages the player to replenish the coloring oricons periodically.

The superstitious gesture-influenced gaming system 100 may also beimplemented in association with another known superstitious behavior,which is displayed when players try to see patterns in game results. Thesuperstitious gesture-influenced gaming system 100 leverages thisbehavior by providing feedback to players to help them correlatesuperstitious gesture input with game results.

FIG. 1 shows a process of how this may be achieved using thesuperstitious gesture-influenced gaming system 100. This process runsindependently of the earlier-described process shown in FIG. 2. Outsideof the game cycle (i.e., when the gaming machine is idle), touches onthe touch screen are detected. These touches may be classified, first asmeaningful or non-meaningful. Meaningful touches are defined as thosewhere a player has touched a functional graphic such as a menu button.Typically, meaningful touches directly effect an aspect of a game playor game-related activity (e.g., selecting cards to play or discard,selecting a payline, selecting a bet amount, using a help button, usingan information button, and the like). These types of touches are usuallynot utilized by the superstitious gesture-influenced gaming system 100,as they are not superstitious in nature.

Non-meaningful touches may be superstitious, so they are classifiedaccording to where the “touch event” occurred. Non-meaningful touches donot directly affect game play, but may affect game parameters (e.g.,changing the volatility of the game (hit frequency and prize range),changing the speed of the game, and the like) or may provide feedback tothe player (e.g., visual, audio, tactile, and the like). Example ofvisual feedback may include the appearance of ripples, colors, symbols,animated effects, and the like, in response to the non-meaningful(superstitious) touches. This classification may be according to thesymbol touched, the general area of the screen touched (e.g., top orbottom), or other elements (such as non-functional graphics). In theexamples shown in FIGS. 7-9, the Dragon graphical elements at the top ofthe screen may be classified independently. In addition to discretetouches, gestures composed of multiple touches may be classified. So aplayer drawing an X over a symbol may produce a different classificationthan a player drawing a circle. These gestures may be detected usingwell known means such as the methods used by the public “Gestikk”library.

In one embodiment of the superstitious gesture-influenced gaming system100, after classification of a touch event, a touch response isperformed. The process shown in FIG. 2 provides such an example, inwhich the touch or gesture is logged. At the end of the game cycle, orupon the point when the game result is available, the touch event isexamined. If a touch or gesture was present, then the classification isadded to a database table along with the game result. The database tablelogs the correlation between positive game results and particulargestures or touches. In this manner, the data in this table may then beused to present interesting statistical information to players in ameaningful way.

FIG. 9 shows another example of how it may be represented in thesuperstitious gesture-influenced gaming system 100. In this example, asymbol has been subtly highlighted with a red circle 910. This circle910 indicates to the player where there have been the “hottest”gestures. Accordingly, if a player has made touches or gestures overseveral symbol positions during idle mode (over the last hour or so), oreven during the game cycle, then the red circle 910 is placed over theclassification associated with the highest amount of wins. In thisexample, the classification is the middle symbol in the first reel.Continuing, the red circle 910 is placed over a symbol position, but itmay be seen that classification may also be performed by symbol type,irrespective of the position of the symbol on screen. Furthermore, aparticular type of symbol (e.g., the “Bar” symbol) may be presented asthe “hottest” symbol touched. Additionally, if it is possible to track aplayer between sessions, by either a player tracking card or anotherstate saving method, then the table of classifications may persist andallow a player to see which symbols or areas of screen have been themost lucky to touch, on a per-machine or per-game basis.

In the embodiments of the superstitious gesture-influenced gaming system100, the player gesture or touch has no effect on the actual gameperformance. However, in another embodiment, a parameter that may bechanged upon gesture without affecting the return-to-player percentageis game volatility. In this regard, below is a simple pay table for agame. One of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that this methodmay apply to games of additional complexity.

Pay Table

Label Combination Prize A 3 Sevens 500 B 3 bars 100 C 3 bells  50 D 3plums  20 E 3 oranges  15 F 3 cherries  10 G 2 cherries  5 H 1 cherry  2

Using the above pay table, also presume that the symbol distribution onthe three reels of the game is as follows:

Symbol Distribution 1

Seven 1 1 1 Bar 1 1 1 Bell 3 4 4 Plum 3 3 1 Orange 4 4 4 Cherry 5 2 3Blank 3 5 6 Total 20 20 20

From the symbol distribution and pay table, the probability of acombination occurring may be calculated. This is the function P(X),where X is the line in the pay table, and the expected return to theplayer for this combination occurring for any given spin is E(X). Thesevalues are shown in the below table:

Probabilities for Symbol Distribution 1

Probability Expected Return P(A) 0.000125 E(A) 0.0625 P(B) 0.000125 E(B)0.0125 P(C) 0.006 E(C) 0.12 P(D) 0.001125 E(D) 0.05625 P(E) 0.008 E(E)0.12 P(F) 0.00375 E(F) 0.0375 P(G) 0.02125 E(G) 0.10625 P(H) 0.225 E(H)0.45 ΣP 0.265375 ΣE 0.965

The total of the expected returns is 0.965, or a 96.5% return to player.The total of the probabilities is the probability of a win in any spin,which is 0.265 or approximately 1 in 4 spins. For the superstitiousgesture-influenced gaming system 100, there is also an alternativesymbol distribution, but with an identical pay table:

Symbol Distribution 2

Seven 3 1 1 Bar 1 2 1 Bell 3 4 4 Plum 3 3 1 Orange 4 3 4 Cherry 1 1 6Blank 5 4 3 Total 20 20 20

The below probabilities are calculated from this symbol distribution:

Probabilities for Symbol Distribution 2

Probability Expected Return P(A) 0.001125 E(A) 0.5625 P(B) 0.00025 E(B)0.025 P(C) 0.006 E(C) 0.12 P(D) 0.001125 E(D) 0.05625 P(E) 0.006 E(E)0.09 P(F) 0.00075 E(F) 0.0075 P(G) 0.00175 E(G) 0.00875 P(H) 0.0475 E(H)0.095 ΣP 0.0645 ΣE 0.965

In this embodiment of the superstitious gesture-influenced gaming system100, the totals for the alternative symbol distribution are notable.While the overall return-to-player is the same as before (96.5%), theprobability of a win for any given game is now much lower (0.0645 orover 1 in 15 spins). Correspondingly, the average win has gone up from3.63 to 14.96, to counter for the increased rarity of a win.

This example shows that it is possible to have a game with two differentsymbol distributions, but with an identical pay table andreturn-to-player. As a feature of the superstitious gesture-influencedgaming system 100, certain classifications of gestures lead to one of aset of symbol distributions being chosen. These symbol distributions arecharacterized by having identical return-to-player but differing winfrequency (also known as volatility).

In one embodiment, a player may play as normal in a low volatilitysetting, but by making a gesture, or a particular type of gesture (suchas an aggressive sweep across the screen), the game would switch tousing another, higher volatility setting with less frequent but higherwins. It should also be apparent that these techniques described abovemay be used in conjunction with other touch screen enabled devices suchas the iDeck or top box displays. In the case of the iDeck, gestures tocommence a game, such as pressing a particular virtual bet button, maybe classified according to how much pressure was applied or how muchfinger movement was present at game start. These classifications maythen be fed to the gesture logging system, as a means of influencing thegame volatility, as described above.

Finally, it should be appreciated that the techniques described abovewith the superstitious gesture-influenced gaming system 100 lendthemselves to being used with auto-stereoscopic displays and other 3-Ddisplay technology, as a means of enhancing an existing 2-D game for3-D. In one such implementation, the final 3-D output is rendered into anumber of views, using established methods giving the viewer theappearance of a display with real depth.

These methods do not necessarily require any change to the underlyinggame. The display modification aspects may be performed even by aDisplay Manager (DM) type video mixing device and retro-fitted to anexisting unmodified game. By using the superstitious gesture-influencedgaming system 100, superstitious behavior by a player is given a betterchance to be expressed, by the gaming machine responding in a pleasingmanner. This may lead to better player enjoyment and more entertainmentvalue.

In still other embodiments of the superstitious gesture-influencedgaming system 100, the player gesture or touch affects the actual gameperformance in a manner allowed by the relevant local gaming regulations(e.g., regulations relating to skill-based games in contrast to games ofchance). Additionally, by implementing the superstitiousgesture-influenced gaming system 100, players may achieve a betterfeeling of control of a game, without any real skill requirements. Thepreferred implementation may use the Alpha 2 system with multi-touchcapability for enhanced gesture interaction.

In some embodiments, the superstitious gesture-influenced gaming system100 utilizes a number of technologies that are built into a VirtualButton Deck. The Virtual Button Deck currently consists of an LCD screenwith an associated touch screen and haptic feedback device. Hapticfeedback enables a player to feel a physical vibration when their fingeris in contact with the touch screen. The timing, amount, and type offeedback is typically controllable using appropriate software.

Most players enjoy feeling in control when playing a gaming machine. Tothis end, players often perform superstitious rituals such as rubbingthe artwork of a gaming machine in a particular manner, or attempting toanticipate wins by “calling” them in advance. The superstitiousgesture-influenced gaming system 100 attempts to provide a moreenjoyable gaming experience by enhancing these activities. Additionally,the methods described herein are also combined with responsible gamingmethods by increasing entertainment rather than reinforcing undesirablebehavior.

One aspect of the superstitious gesture-influenced gaming system 100 isshown in FIG. 10. In such an embodiment, the gaming machine isconfigured such that a player may always, or preferably sometimes, bealerted to an imminent win before the game cycle completes, in additionto normal haptic activity (such as responding to a touch on the virtualbutton deck with a short vibration).

Gaming machine software typically generates the outcome of a game at thepoint where the player executes an action such as, in the case of a reelspinning game, pressing a “Spin” button. Then, the reels are spun to thedesired stopping positions, and any win is calculated and paid.

In the process of FIG. 10, once the outcome is generated (but before thereels start spinning), the outcome is used to determine if any win hasoccurred. If no win has occurred, the spin continues as normal. However,if a win has occurred, then a next preferable step occurs in which arandom number is chosen between 0 and (N−1). N is chosen based on howoften it is desired for the haptic effect to occur. In one scenario, anexample value would be 2, which would mean that a haptic effect wouldoccur 50% of the time. If the random number chosen is zero, then ahaptic effect is triggered. A further test is done to set the amount ofhaptic vibration. For larger wins, it may be preferable to have a largervibration.

The haptic vibration is then triggered, and the game spin commences. Inan alternative implementation, the vibration is not triggered until somepoint within the game cycle, which makes the effect more pronounced.Regardless of when the vibration is triggered, the effect to the playeris that over time the player associates the haptic effect with a win,and thus, the player has a much enhanced experience anticipating the winwhile the reels spin. In another embodiment in which haptic effects arenot possible or desirable, the display is affected in a minor way, suchas a horizontal video shake effect.

FIG. 11 shows another process that takes advantage of a haptic response.This process is concerned with games that have a feature that istriggered by a player achieving a particular game result. In oneembodiment, three, four, or five “scattered” symbols appear in thefinishing combination.

Other gaming machines in the past have been configured such that oncetwo scattered symbols have appeared in winning positions (but before allreels have completed spinning), the remaining reels spin for a longerperiod of time to build anticipation and draw attention to thepossibility of a feature being triggered. Accordingly, in a 5-reel gamein which the reels stop from left to right (reel 1 to 5), if after thefirst 3 reels have stopped there are already 2 visible scatteredsymbols, reels 4 and 5 continue to spin for an extended period comparedto a normal spin time.

A potential drawback of this approach is that if “scatters” are fairlycommon on the left most reels, but not on the right most reels (a commonmethod of designing games, to build this very anticipation with many‘near misses’) then the average game cycle time can be adverselyaffected, thus resulting in a drop in corresponding throughput for theoperator. If this situation occurs every 5 games, then the game cycletime is extended by 2 seconds. Accordingly, the average game cycle timewould be extended by 0.4 seconds, which would drop overall throughput by10%.

In contrast, the method shown in FIG. 11 does not increase game cycletime at all. Instead, a haptic response is triggered on the virtualbutton deck at the point when two scattered symbols appear on the first4 stopping reels. A further response is triggered if a third symbolappears. Finally, an even larger response is triggered if a fourthsymbol appears. As in FIG. 10, the game outcome is evaluated before thereels are spun to determine if any scatters are to appear.

It should be noted that in FIG. 11, when the number of scatters arecounted, the count does not include the result from the final (rightmost) reel. This is so the response is only triggered if (from theplayer's perspective) there is some doubt about the final outcome.

Another superstitious feature that is common in Japanese “Pachislo”gaming machines is the ability for a player to stop each individual reelduring game play. This feature has not previously been developed inNorth American gaming machines because it requires an extra set ofphysical buttons. Furthermore, Japanese machines enable players toextend the game cycle time indefinitely which, as described above, isdetrimental to game performance.

However, in one embodiment shown in FIG. 17, the superstitiousgesture-influenced gaming system 100 overcomes the above-describedproblem of needing dedicated buttons and enables a player to control thestopping of reels. FIG. 12 shows the process that is used to implementthis aspect of the superstitious gesture-influenced gaming system 100.The player presses a “spin” graphic on the virtual button deck of thesuperstitious gesture-influenced gaming system 100 to commence the game.Once the reels are spinning, the display on the virtual button deck isreplaced with that shown in FIG. 17. If a player does not press thedeck, then the game continues to completion, taking the same time asnormal. If, however, a player presses a virtual button associated with areel, and the reel is still spinning, then that reel is stopped asquickly as possible. In the case of video-based games, the reel isstopped immediately.

The overall effect of this process is to enable a player to stop thereels in a particular “lucky” pattern (e.g., from right to left) or byusing the multi-touch feature of the virtual button deck to stop morethan one reel simultaneously. A player may stop the reels by simplydragging their finger across the virtual button deck. Using the processin FIG. 12, this causes the reels to appear to stop in sync with theplayer's finger movement.

In another embodiment of the superstitious gesture-influenced gamingsystem 100, a player is provided with areas of the virtual button deckassociated with each reel. Prior to commencement of the game these areasare labeled “Reel 1,” “Reel 2,” and so forth. The player then simplypresses each area in turn to start the corresponding reel spinning. Inaddition, a downward stroke across an area with a finger causes thecorresponding reel to spin at an initial rate proportional to thevelocity of the stroke. An upward stroke across the area causes thecorresponding reel to spin in the opposite direction. All of theseinteractions do not affect the outcome of the game, but give the playeran enhanced feeling of perceived control.

A further feature of the superstitious gesture-influenced gaming system100 is that this system enables the reading of somewhat arbitrarygesture input to affect the way a game is displayed. As is noted above,some players are fond of performing superstitious gestures such asrubbing or touching certain artwork elements that are perceived to belucky.

FIG. 13 illustrates a process for the accumulation of gesture data for aparticular player. In this manner, gesture data is associated over along period of time with a player by the use of player trackingaccounts, or alternatively just for a single session for non-trackedplayers.

In FIG. 13, a gesture is read. A number of techniques could be used toperform this. First, a pre-set library of gestures could be stored andcompared against the input. Second, a neural network function could beused to “learn” arbitrary gestures. Notably, however, in thesuperstitious gesture-influenced gaming system 100, the actual gesturelearned need not be predictable. Whatever actions a player makes thatare not directly related to conventional input may be used.

Another important method that may be used to read gestures in thesuperstitious gesture-influenced gaming system 100 is shown in FIG. 14and FIG. 15. In this embodiment, a gesture-enhanced game play system 100that includes a display system 1410, a sensor system 1420, a feedbacksystem 1430, and one or more computing systems 1440 is disclosed. Thedisplay system 1410 is configured to display images related to one ormore games to be played on at least a first game playing surface. Theimages include a virtual game layout including at least one areaassociated with the play of the one or more games. This method also usesan inexpensive stethoscope 1450 attached to a microphone, which in oneembodiment of the superstitious gesture-influenced gaming system 100,that is mounted against the interior surface of the “belly” of the frontside of the cabinet.

The sensor system 1420 is configured to detect at least one touchgesture when the touch gesture is at least proximate the virtual gamelayout. During play of the base game, when a player makes a touchgesture, the touch gesture is evaluated as either a direct gameplaytouch gesture or an indirect gameplay touch gesture. Each directgameplay touch gesture relates directly to reaching an outcome of acurrent game. Each indirect gameplay touch gesture may be associatedwith a feedback system that responds to the indirect gameplay touchgestures by the player with visual, audio, and/or tactile feedback. Thefeedback system 1430 enables indirect gameplay touch gestures by theplayer to altered game parameters by modifying a hit frequency andcorresponding prize pay range, enabling the player to indirectly modifythe hit frequency and prize pay range by making indirect gameplay touchgestures.

The one or more computing system 1440 communicatively are coupled to thedisplay subsystem to control the images displayed by the display system.Additionally, the computing system 1440 is communicatively coupled tothe sensor system 1420 to receive information indicative of the touchgesture sensed by the sensor system. The sensor system 1420 isconfigured to detect multiple touch gestures, wherein gestures includesimultaneous touches by multiple fingers, consecutive touches by asingle finger, touching and sliding of a finger, touching and sliding ofmultiple fingers, and combinations thereof.

As a player touches or drags their finger across theacoustically-enabled surface, a sound is made and picked up by themicrophone. After filtering out low frequencies (<1200 Hz) to removebackground noise such as music or speech, the sound is recorded andanalyzed. Some examples of detectable gestures are shown in FIG. 16. Asnoted above, and in contrast to existing applications, it is notessential that accurate reading of gestures occurs. The applicationsdescribed above and below do not require this. As such, arbitrarygestures may be learned by a neural network. In this manner, even if thegesture reading/interpretation reads a false positive (or negative), theoutcome from the player's perspective is essentially random. Thus, whilenot directly reinforcing superstitious behavior, this system does notprevent the gaming machine from operating in a fair or undesired manner.

Notably, other incidental input from the player may also be used inplace of gestures. For example, a microphone may be mounted to recognizea particular sound being made, or a camera could recognize a certainfacial expression. The unifying factor is that whatever input is used,is not directly controlling the operation of the gaming machine.Instead, this input is used to influence small random elements, as isexplained below.

Continuing the process in FIG. 13, after a potential gesture is read,the gesture is analyzed to determine if it is a functional gesture.Functional gestures are gestures that are used by the player to directlyinteract with the game, such as rubbing a virtual scratch-card to reveala prize. If the gesture is a functional gesture, it is not used by thesuperstitious process and is passed to the existing methods forinterpreting and executing the gesture.

If the gesture is non-functional, the table of known gestures is checkedto see if it is a gesture that has not been used before. If the gesturehas been used before, then the associated value in the gesture table isincremented. If the gesture has not been used before, then a new entryis made in the gesture table, with a value of 1. Once this is done, thetable is checked to see if there is a change in the highest-valuedgesture. If so, then the new highest-valued gesture is marked as beingthe current “Lucky” gesture that will be used by the methods below.

If the gestures are being generated by non-tracked players, it isbeneficial to periodically remove from the table any gestures that havenot been made for a period of time, (e.g., the last hour). This ensuresthat a particular player is able to easily associate their gesture as“lucky.”

Once superstitious gestures are detected and designated as “lucky,”another aspect of the superstitious gesture-influenced gaming system 100comes into play. In this aspect, the gestures are used to influence gameplay. As noted above, these influences are generally expected to beneural with regards to game performance. Instead, the influence isdesigned to give the impression of the player affecting the game output,without actually making any effective difference.

An example of such an effect is shown in FIG. 18 of the superstitiousgesture-influenced gaming system 100. When the player presses the “spin”button to commence a game, the software checks whether the “lucky”gesture was made in the time period after the commencement of theprevious game. If the gesture was not made during this time period, thegame is displayed as normal.

If a gesture was made, then the display of the game is affected. In oneembodiment of the superstitious gesture-influenced gaming system 100,the amount of effect is determined by: (1) if the game is to result in awin; (2) the size of the win; and (3) whether the player had previouslywon an award. Preferably, this procedure tests to see if the previousgame also resulted in a win, and thus, the player is having a lucky“streak.” However, this technique may also be applied to wins over alonger period of time, such that a number of large wins interspersedwith losses would still produce a large effect.

An example of a possible effect is shown in FIGS. 19 and 20. In thisembodiment, a number of star graphical images are shown across the topof the gaming video display. If a player has made a lucky gesture, theseimages appear as the reels spin. The size of the stars is determined bythe process in FIG. 18, with a suitable maximum enforced.

From a player's perspective, when the player makes a superstitiousgesture (e.g., rubbing a genie's lamp on the cabinet artwork), theplayer sees the game output change in response. If the game results in awin, then in advance of the win, the player sees a larger “effect,”which reinforces the superstitious behavior.

Referring now to FIG. 12, an alternative process is shown that awardsbonuses to players for the correct input of a gesture. It is importantto note that this bonus amount is in addition to normal payout and maybe used as a method of rewarding players that are making the largestbets.

In FIG. 12, a bonus is accumulated by conventional means (e.g., by coinin), or by some use of the casino's marketing budget. At the point whenthe bonus is triggered (i.e., when it reaches a pre-set trigger amount),a decision is made as to the eligibility for the bonus. These criteriamay be used to restrict the bonus to a set of players that have made apre-set amount of wagering in the previous time period, or to players ofa certain reward level in the player's club. In some embodiments,further criteria may be to restrict the bonus to players making aparticular type of gesture. Thus, while players may not be aware ofthese parameters, in one time period the gesture that must be made is acircular one, while in another time period, the gesture is a “straightline.”

In one embodiment of the superstitious gesture-influenced gaming system100, once eligibility is determined, the bonus controller receivesgesture data from each gaming machine that is eligible. The firsteligible player to make the correct gesture wins the bonus prize, whichmay be awarded as a conventional mystery feature.

In another embodiment of the superstitious gesture-influenced gamingsystem 100, a force-sensitive touchscreen may also be used to furtherenhance superstitious behavior by adjusting non-essential gamecharacteristics, such as reel spin velocity. For example, a playermaking a hard press on the touchscreen sees the reels spin faster, andstop in a more aggressive manner than another player making a softpress. In one such embodiment, neither player would have a differentoverall game cycle time (i.e., the increase of velocity would be offsetwith a corresponding increase in the amount of rotation of the spinningreels). Preferably, this action would be performed in a video reel spin,but it is also applicable to physical spinning reels.

A further feature of the superstitious gesture-influenced gaming system100 is shown in FIGS. 13 and 14. In one such embodiment, a common itemgiven to customers at the end of the meal, in conjunction with thecheck, is a fortune cookie. The fortune cookie includes a slip of paper,often containing a selection of random lottery numbers.

In one embodiment of the superstitious gesture-influenced gaming system100, the slip of paper also includes a code, preferably a barcode, butalso potentially a code that could be entered by a player. The packagingfor the cookie also includes a barcode. Before the waiter delivers thecookie, he or she scans the external barcode (which matches the barcodeon the slip inside the cookie). This associates the cookie barcode withthe dining check, and potentially (if the player presented their playertracking card at the commencement of the meal) with the particularplayer.

In such an embodiment, when the diner opens the cookie, they see abarcode on the slip of paper. Instructions may also be given on theslip, or alternatively written on the check or other informationalmaterial. In an alternative implementation, the barcode is on the checkrather than the cookie. The instructions tell the player to use thebarcode at a particular game or type of game. When the player does so(as shown in FIG. 14), a bonus feature may be activated that may givethe player bonus credits, a prize, or maybe just a particular fortunecookie text.

The superstitious gesture-influenced gaming system 100 incentivizesplayers in a restaurant to go to a gaming machine (or potentially even aparticular gaming machine playing a specific game) that is beingcurrently promoted. It is expected that by doing so they may enjoy thebonus feature and thus continue playing.

The above aspects of superstitious gesture-influenced gaming system 100are aimed at increasing entertainment and enjoyment of gaming. It isalso recognized that reinforcing superstitious behavior should be donein a responsible manner. To this end, FIG. 15 describes a process forthe controlling of the enablement and disablement of superstitiousfeatures, such that it is only used for increasing entertainment and notfor encouraging irresponsible gaming behavior.

First, each player may elect not to participate in superstitiousbehavior. To do so, the player or the operator may mark their accountwith a “disable” command that ensures that superstitious features arenever enabled. Second, the operator can set session lengths, after whichno further superstitious features would be enabled. Third, the operatormay set amounts of wager (either on a per game basis, or over a periodof time) after which the superstitious feature is disabled. Finally,superstitious features may be re-enabled if responsible activity hasrecommenced (i.e., the wagering amount has decreased) or there has beena break in the session.

It is also possible with some of the features described above, that whensuperstitious features are disabled, they are replaced with totallyrandom versions of the same, which are not influenced by gestures orother player involvement. This decreases the players feeling of controland can be used as a means of ensuring that the superstitious featuresare used only for entertainment.

In a preferred implementation of the superstitious gesture-influencedgaming system 100, the system may include a multi-touch virtual buttondeck, an Acoustic Scratch Input, and/or a neural network. In oneembodiment of the multi-touch virtual button deck, the touchscreen caninterpret force, such as that produced by Touchco. This technology usedinterpolating force-sensitive resistance, which is incorporated intodisplays and can be completely transparent. One particular type ofAcoustic Scratch Input is developed by Carnegie Mellon University, whichis located at 5000 Forbes Ave., Pittsburgh, Pa. 15213.

Continuing, one non-limiting example of a Neural Network, is describedherein. Neural network software is software which can acquire, store,and utilize experiential knowledge. Regarding mouse gestures, amultilayer perception and standard back-propagation algorithm may beused for training. A significant issue is the representation of an inputdata for neural network. In one embodiment, a mouse path is transformedinto a vector of cosines and sines. See the following example below:

path {170:82 172:83 175:85 177:86 . . . }

transformed into

vector {0.45 0.55 0.45 0.71 0.89 0.83 0.89 0.71 . . . }

Recognition Algorithm:

(1) record a mouse path; (2) smooth a path to a base points; (3)transform points to angles' vector; (4) compute sines and cosines; (5)pass values (cosines and sines) to network's inputs; (6) apply softmaxfunction on an output network vector; and (7) find and verify a winner.

Neural Network Architecture:

(1) input layers: 32 synapses; (2) hidden layer: 32 neurons; (3) outputlayer: 29 axons (one for each gesture); (4) fully connected layers; (5)transfer function: log-sigmoid; (6) incremental training algorithm,standard back-propagation method; (7) momentum, variable learning rate(slowly reduced); and (8) input noise.

In one embodiment, before testing the recognition ability, the networkshould be trained (or “N” file image of trained net may be loaded).Parameters of the training process may be customized, namely: maximumnumber of cycles, a momentum value, a learning rate, a minimum value ofmean square error (in other words “target error”). The training processstops after achieving either of these conditions: maximum number ofcycles or target error. During the training process one should keep aneye on an error's graph, a current gesture (with noise), and a 2-Dnetwork presentation.

As soon as the network has been trained, it may be tested. In oneembodiment, the patterns (or test all of them), a speed value, and anoise level are selected. Additionally, it is recommended to familiarizeoneself with ideal presentation of gestures via setting minimal noiseand minimal speed.

In some embodiments, one presses the right mouse button during moving amouse for recognition of mouse gestures. For example, for recognition ofa “left” gesture, press right mouse button and move a mouse to the left.If a neural network can recognize the gesture, then the name,probability and ideal presentation of the winner is shown. In oneembodiment, the mouse path must have at least 16 points. Notably, thedirection is very important.

Continuing, in another aspect of one embodiment, the network may betrained to recognize the gestures, but not the 2-D images. Hence, onemay draw the “circle” gesture a thousand different ways, but the only“valid” way is to press the mouse button and move a mouse to the rightand down. Again, this is a gesture, and not a 2-D image.

In some preferred embodiments of the superstitious gesture-influencedgaming system 100, the capabilities of the system include: (1) anenhanced feeling of control of the game by the player, without affectinggame performance; (2) a more exciting anticipation of wins, withoutslowing the game down; (3) the novel uses of a virtual button deck toprovide control of the game and game features; (4) the use of anysurface of the gaming machine for gesture input; (5) the use ofarbitrary gestures, without the need for a player to learn a particulargesture; and (6) responsible methods of delivering superstitiousfeatures in an entertainment-only environment.

The various embodiments described above are provided by way ofillustration only and should not be construed to limit the claimedinvention. Those skilled in the art will readily recognize variousmodifications and changes that may be made to the claimed inventionwithout following the example embodiments and applications illustratedand described herein, and without departing from the true spirit andscope of the claimed invention, which is set forth in the followingclaims.

What is claimed:
 1. A gesture enhanced game play system, comprising: a display system configured to display images related to one or more games to be played on at least a first game playing surface, the images including a virtual game layout including at least one area associated with the play of the one or more games; a sensor system configured to detect at least one touch gesture when the touch gesture is at least proximate the virtual game layout; wherein during play of the base game, when a player makes a touch gesture the touch gesture is evaluated by the sensor system as either a direct gameplay touch gesture or an indirect gameplay touch gesture, wherein if the touch gesture is an indirect gameplay touch gesture, then a gesture table of known indirect gameplay touch gestures is accessed and an associated value in the gesture table is incremented, wherein the indirect gameplay touch gesture with the highest associated value is designated as a lucky gesture, and wherein if the lucky gesture is made by a player during gameplay of a winning game, then the player receives an additional award or enhanced award presentation; wherein the feedback system enables indirect gameplay touch gestures by the player to altered game parameters by modifying a hit frequency and corresponding prize pay range, enabling the player to indirectly modify the hit frequency and prize pay range by making indirect gameplay touch gesture; and a computing system, the computing system communicatively coupled to the display system to control the images displayed by the display system, the computing system communicatively coupled to the sensor system to receive information indicative of the touch gesture sensed by the sensor system.
 2. The system of claim 1, wherein the indirect gameplay touch gestures are associated with a feedback system that responds to the indirect gameplay touch gestures by the player with visual, audio, or tactile feedback.
 3. The system of claim 1, wherein indirect gameplay touch gestures may activate the feedback system when a symbol touched, a general area of the display system is touched, a graphic is touched, or an area within a proximity of a symbol or graphic is touched.
 4. The system of claim 1, wherein a game that has a higher bonus hit frequency has a lower prize pay range and a game that has a lower hit frequency has a higher prize pay range, and wherein making gesture motions does not change an overall return to the player of the game.
 5. The system of claim 1, wherein the indirect gameplay touch gestures correlate to a database of predetermined indirect gameplay touch gestures in the feedback system that associate each indirect gameplay touch gesture with a predetermined feedback to the player.
 6. The system of claim 1, wherein an indirect gameplay touch gesture is identified by the feedback system a set number of times before the feedback system associates the indirect gameplay touch gesture with a predetermined feedback to the player.
 7. The system of claim 1, wherein an indirect gameplay touch gesture is identified by the feedback system that associates the indirect gameplay touch gesture with a predetermined feedback to the player, and wherein the feedback to the player is personalized for each specific player in response to receiving player identification information.
 8. The system of claim 1, wherein the system includes a virtual button having an available state which demonstrates that sufficient credits are available to enable selection of the button in its available state.
 9. The system of claim 1, wherein the system includes a virtual button having an inactive button state which demonstrates that sufficient credits are not available to enable selection of the button in its inactive state.
 10. The system of claim 1, wherein the system includes a virtual button having a mouse/finger over button state, wherein if a player touches and slides from one button location to another button location, a potential button/selection is activated, but a selection is not committed by the player without a secondary player action.
 11. The system of claim 1, wherein the system further includes a sound effects package that synchronizes sound effects with use of a physical button or virtual button.
 12. The system of claim 6, wherein lower frequency tones are associated with lower bet amounts and higher frequency tones are associated with higher bet amounts.
 13. The system of claim 1, wherein the display subsystem includes at least one display device selected from the group consisting of a cathode ray tube display, a liquid crystal (LCD) display, a liquid crystal on silicon (LCOS) display, a plasma display, a digital light processing (DLP) display or a projector.
 14. The system of claim 1, further comprising at least a first game playing surface on which at least a portion of the one or more games is playable, the first game playing surface forming a portion of a table top or a bar top.
 15. The system of claim 1, further comprising at least a first game playing surface on which at least a portion of the one or more games is playable, and wherein the first game playing surface is part of a slant top or vertical gaming machine.
 16. The system of claim 1, further comprising: at least a first game playing surface on which at least a portion of the one or more games is playable; and at least a second game playing surface on which at least a portion of the one or more games is playable, where the sensor subsystem is configured to detect at least one physical aspect of the at least one game-related piece when the game-related piece is located on the first game playing surface and when the game-related piece is located on the second game playing surface.
 17. The system of claim 1, further comprising: at least a first game playing surface on which at least a portion of the one or more games is playable; and at least a second game playing surface on which at least a portion of the one or more games is playable, wherein the display subsystem includes a first display device and at least a second display device, the first display device positioned to display the images on or under the first game playing surface and the second display device positioned to display the images on or under the second game playing surface.
 18. The system of claim 1, wherein the computing subsystem is configured to cause the display subsystem to display the virtual game layout at a different orientation than previously displayed between portions of the games.
 19. The system of claim 1, wherein the display subsystem and the sensor subsystem are remotely located from the computing subsystem.
 20. The system of claim 1, wherein the display subsystem and the sensor subsystem are located in a wireless communications device.
 21. The system of claim 1, wherein the display subsystem and the sensor subsystem are co-located remotely from a gaming floor of a gaming premises.
 22. The system of claim 1, wherein the virtual game layout comprises a casino table game.
 23. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one computing subsystem controls the display subsystem to display images of a menu including icons representing a number of items that may be ordered.
 24. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one computing subsystem controls the display subsystem to display images indicative of participant account information for at least one participant in the at least one game.
 25. A gesture enhanced game play system, comprising: a display system configured to display images related to one or more games to be played on at least a first game playing surface, the images including a virtual game layout including at least one area associated with the play of the one or more games; a sensor system configured to detect at least one touch gesture when the touch gesture is at least proximate the virtual game layout; wherein during play of the base game, when a player makes a touch gesture the touch gesture is evaluated by the sensor system as either a direct gameplay touch gesture or an indirect gameplay touch gesture, and if the touch gesture is an indirect gameplay touch gesture, then an associated value in a gesture table is incremented, wherein the indirect gameplay touch gesture with the highest associated value is designated as a lucky gesture, and wherein if the lucky gesture is made by a player during gameplay of a winning game, then the player receives an additional award or enhanced award presentation; and a computing system, the computing system communicatively coupled to the display system to control the images displayed by the display system, the computing system communicatively coupled to the sensor system to receive information indicative of the touch gesture sensed by the sensor system.
 26. A gesture enhanced game play system, comprising: a display system configured to display images related to one or more games to be played on at least a first game playing surface, the images including a virtual game layout including at least one area associated with the play of the one or more games; a sensor system configured to detect at least one touch gesture when the touch gesture is at least proximate the virtual game layout; wherein during play of the base game, when a player makes a touch gesture the touch gesture is evaluated by the sensor system as either a functional gesture or an arbitrary non-functional gesture, if the touch gesture is an arbitrary non-functional touch gesture, then a gesture table of known non-functional touch gestures is checked to see if the non-functional gesture has been used before, wherein if the non-functional touch gesture has been used before, an associated value in the gesture table is incremented, while if the non-functional touch gesture has not been used before, a new entry is made in the gesture table, wherein the gesture table is checked to determine a highest-valued non-functional touch gesture, wherein the highest-valued non-functional touch gesture is designated as a lucky gesture, and wherein if the lucky gesture is made by a player during gameplay of a winning game, the player receives an additional award or enhanced award presentation; and a computing system, the computing system communicatively coupled to the display system to control the images displayed by the display system, the computing system communicatively coupled to the sensor system to receive information indicative of the touch gesture sensed by the sensor system.
 27. The system of claim 26, wherein the non-functional touch gestures are classified according to how much pressure was applied by the player.
 28. The system of claim 26, wherein the non-functional touch gestures are classified according to how much finger movement was used by the player.
 29. The system of claim 26, wherein the non-functional touch gestures are associated with a feedback system that responds to the non-functional touch gestures by the player with visual, audio, or tactile feedback.
 30. The system of claim 26, wherein non-functional touch gestures may activate the feedback system when a symbol is touched, a general area of the display system is touched, a graphic is touched, or an area within a proximity of a symbol or graphic is touched.
 31. The system of claim 26, wherein a game that has a higher bonus hit frequency has a lower prize pay range and a game that has a lower hit frequency has a higher prize pay range, and wherein making gesture motions does not change an overall return to the player of the game.
 32. The system of claim 26, wherein the non-functional touch gestures correlate to a database of predetermined non-functional touch gestures in the feedback system that associate each non-functional touch gesture with a predetermined feedback to the player.
 33. The system of claim 26, wherein a non-functional touch gesture is identified by the feedback system a set number of times before the feedback system associates the non-functional touch gesture with a predetermined feedback to the player.
 34. The system of claim 26, wherein a non-functional touch gesture is identified by the feedback system that associates the non-functional touch gesture with a predetermined feedback to the player, and wherein the feedback to the player is personalized for each specific player in response to receiving player identification information. 